"I don't know if there are goalkeepers out there and available who are better than former Atletico Madrid man David De Gea.
"The save in the first half where he pushed the ball on to the post from Fabio Coentrao was world-class - and he produced another from the same player when he kicked off the line. His shot stopping was fantastic.
"When you look at England's best Joe Hart, who is three years older than De Gea at 25, and the mistakes he made in Manchester City's 3-1 defeat by Southampton last week, I think De Gea should be given time to develop.
"He has shown enough to suggest that he will be a very good keeper. He just needs to improve on high crosses."
couldn't put it any better, the criticism the young man suffers at times borders on plain stupidity if you ask me, same goes for rafael, i just don't understand how anyone will expect him to perform given the formation we played and the kind of opposition we played against. The way we set out last night lest the fullbacks exposed and the will look bad and they will be torn apart, it's just a sacrifice they had to make for the team because that was the best formation to employ and it did work well for us. People are too quick to condemn young players these days, especially if they play for united while other more matured players get away with bloody murder. I'll tell you what, put any other rightback from any of the premier league clubs in rafa's position last night and the score wouldn't have been the same, i saw ivanovic get murdered by a newcastle attack without ben arfa the other day for crying out loud, people really need to chill.
Savage on De Gea
posted on 14/2/13
Rooney was poor but was also out wide, he can do a job there but didn't get much of the ball.
But he was poor I agree
posted on 14/2/13
Why are we looking to criticise anyone!
Some players weren't up to their normal game, but they were putting in a shift. Rafael was up against Ronaldo, Ozil and Coentrao on countless occassions. I was very impressed with Madrids passing game in and around the box, obviously something they work on a lot.
posted on 14/2/13
rooney got loads of the ball but whenever he did he lost it or did some terrible one touch pass.
he also offered very little cover for rafael and he looked tired too.
really disappointed in him last night, maybe he was trying to hard to impress Ronaldo?
posted on 14/2/13
For me, it's why Rooney will never be "world class". Don't get me wrong, he's very, very good, but the biggest of players thrive on occasions like last night, RvP yes, Ronaldo yes, Rooney no.
If you can't find a players feet on the Bernabeu carpet in the biggest match of the season then you're not "world class".
posted on 14/2/13
comment by Champagne-SuperNovak - backing the PFAs "Kick Football out of Football Campaign".......#PrayForRvP (U6859)
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What?? Rooney is always scoring in huge games.
Barcelona, Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Milan etc.
The one big game he doesn't score in and suddenly he's not a big game player?
posted on 14/2/13
Good article. I can't stand Savage but these are wise words.
posted on 14/2/13
I never said he wasn't a big-game player. I said he wasn't world class.
As for the ONE big game he under performed in......I take it you don't watch England much.....
posted on 14/2/13
Rooney played brilliantly against Brazil.
He was awful in the Euros... but who wasn't?
posted on 14/2/13
Roo is a big game player but he is not world class imo.
His touch lets him down too often and, at times, his passing can be erratic as well (e.g. last night).
By comparison, people are saying Ronaldo had a quiet game even though he scored. The truly world class players are judged by a much higher standard and Roo is nowhere near consistent enough to be in that category imo, no matter how many goals he scores.
RVP played much better than Roo despite missing a sitter. I.e. it is not all about goals or we might as well have signed Bent or Defoe.
posted on 14/2/13
That lad pretty much summed up what I meant ^^